Paypal warning

Niall · Mar 21, 2008, 15:10:45

I'm sure most of you are all aware of this scam, but I'll post anyway.

I've started getting emails that pretend to be from PayPal, asking you to log in through their link to confirm your details. Obviously this is to steal your Paypal info.

Anyway, here's the email:

QuoteDear PayPal ® customer,

We recently reviewed your account, and we suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account.
Protecting your account is our primary concern. As a preventive measure we have temporary limited your access to sensitive information.
Paypal features.To ensure that your account is not compromised, simply hit "Resolution Center" to confirm your identity as member of Paypal.

Login to your Paypal with your Paypal username and password.
Confirm your identity as a card memeber of Paypal.

Please confirm account information by clicking here Resolution Center and complete the "Steps to Remove Limitations."

*Please do not reply to this message. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Copyright © 1999-2008 PayPal. All rights reserved.

Ignoring the spelling mistakes, the web address in these emails to go to Paypal is incorrect. They use pay.pal.com rather than Paypal.com. Oh, and Paypal emails (when you rarely get them if you only use them once in a blue moon like me) are actually in English, not American spelling

The dead giveaway for me is that I have never fully activated my Paypal account, as I decided to go through a more secure route for my last purchase in the end

{edit} I've taken out the web link incase you were wondering, but it was linked to the "Resolution Center" part.

Even though Paypal are a bunch of dodgy and inept morons, I've yet to see them tell anyone to "hit" a link, when they do contact you

Philip · Mar 21, 2008, 15:14:14

Paypal will always address it to your own name also, and it should always come from paypal.co.uk, but thanks for the heads up, it is always worth reminding ourselves about these scams

Rik · Mar 21, 2008, 15:16:17

At least it doesn't end up saying "If you're not a customer, please ignore this email"! Thanks for posting, Niall.

Sebby · Mar 21, 2008, 18:00:49

Thanks for posting, Niall. It's always useful to be aware of these things in advance, though I often wonder how anyone falls for these scams given how poorly they are executed. For a start, PayPal would never write "Paypal" (no second capital "P") in an email...

madasahatter · Mar 21, 2008, 20:39:07

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 21, 2008, 18:00:49
Thanks for posting, Niall. It's always useful to be aware of these things in advance, though I often wonder how anyone falls for these scams given how poorly they are executed. For a start, PayPal would never write "Paypal" (no second capital "P") in an email...

I know someone who came very very close to revealing all his bank details, including pin number to such a scam. Only noticed because he asked me what to put in the last field before he clicked the submit button, and I spotted straight away that it came from "Playpal". And he's supposedly an intelligent guy!

esh · Mar 21, 2008, 21:05:51

I've been receiving a bunch of "NatWest" emails trying the same thing. The link in the mail resolves to a domain in California.

madasahatter · Mar 21, 2008, 21:38:20

We get a load of Natwest Halifax, and paypal e-mails at work - don't even bother looking at them anymore - just hit the delete button.

Danni · Mar 21, 2008, 21:45:42

I've got a real one for comparison:

Quote
From: service@paypal.co.uk
To: Danni
Date: 11/03/2008 13:04

Dear Danielle Matzk,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the
PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding
your account.

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party.
We have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features in case your
account has been accessed by an unauthorised third party. We understand
that having limited access can be an inconvenience, but protecting your
account is our primary concern.

Reference Number: <reference number removed>

For your protection, we have temporarily limited access to your account. We
will review this access once you have completed all the steps we have
requested. You can view these steps in the Resolution Centre of your PayPal
account.

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used
to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the
Resolution Centre. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek
further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal
by visiting the Help Centre and clicking 'Contact Us'.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that
this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account.
We apologise again for any inconvenience this may cause you.
For your protection, we have limited access to your account until
additional security measures can be completed. We apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause.

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used
to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the
Resolution Centre. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek
further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal
by visiting the Help Centre and clicking 'Contact Us'.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand
that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your
account. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Yours sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department

----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ©1999-2008 PayPal. All rights reserved.

PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. & Cie, S.C.A.
Société en Commandite par Actions
Registered Office: 5th Floor 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg
RCS Luxembourg B 118 349

My account really was restricted. It's fixed now (thanks Colin!) but there was no web link in the email- I had to go to the PayPal site itself. That, with it using my (horrible) name, was enough to convince me it was real.

Malc · Mar 21, 2008, 21:49:59

I had loads from Barclays on a previous email as well

Simon · Mar 21, 2008, 22:03:24

The basic rule is never follow links from emails. Even if you think the email is genuine, go to the site via your usual Favourites / Bookmarks route, and log in to your account in the normal way.

I've had a very similar email to that one, Danni, but I ignored it, thinking it was a scam, and there were no issues with my PayPal account that I could see.

Danni · Mar 21, 2008, 22:06:49

When I logged into to PayPal to check it, it was very clear that it wasn't a scam- it had all over it that it was restricted, what I could and couldn't do, and a link to how to fix it (which was rather confusing for me).

They sent me a survey about the restriction today. I complained a lot in it

Simon · Mar 21, 2008, 22:22:00

But you did log in via your usual route, and not by any links in the email, Danni, yes? Please say yes!

Danni · Mar 21, 2008, 22:23:58

Yes

Re-read the email- there were no links for me to click on

Simon · Mar 21, 2008, 22:25:57

That's OK then.

Rik · Mar 22, 2008, 09:32:14

There's nothing wrong with your name, Danni.

Danni · Mar 22, 2008, 14:34:19

I hate my first name. That's why I use Danni. My surname isn't too bad, apart from being German and no-one knows how to pronounce it or spell it.

Rik · Mar 22, 2008, 15:41:57

I was christened Richard Charles William, so you can probably gather what I though of my parents' choice, Danni.

Simon · Mar 22, 2008, 16:14:10

Could have been worse if it had been Richard Edward, Rik!

Rik · Mar 22, 2008, 16:20:37

There are many worse options, but I still don't like the ones my parents went for.

Niall · Mar 23, 2008, 11:12:24

Yay, another one:

QuoteDear PayPal ® customer,

We recently reviewed your account, and we suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account.
Protecting your account is our primary concern. As a preventive measure we have temporary limited your access to sensitive information.
Paypal features.To ensure that your account is not compromised, simply hit "Resolution Center" to confirm your identity as member of Paypal.

Login to your Paypal with your Paypal username and password.
Confirm your identity as a card memeber of Paypal.

Please confirm account information by clicking here Resolution Center and complete the "Steps to Remove Limitations."

*Please do not reply to this message. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Copyright © 1999-2008 PayPal. All rights reserved.

This time the address was pay.pal-users. Cunning.

akstcagemnsdgs@age.jp is the email address it came from. Probably a bot on someones PC.